Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade added versatility and experience to its roster by inking forward Nikola Kalinic to a two-year deal, the club announced Thursday

Zvezda brings back EuroLeague champ Kalinic

Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade added versatility and experience to its roster by inking forward Nikola Kalinic to a two-year deal, the club announced Thursday.

Zenit St Petersburg won its second straight road game to start the season and improved to 5-0 all-time against Zalgiris Kaunas with a 64-70 victory at Zalgirio Arena on Thursday night. 

Zenit wins again in Kaunas, 64-70

Lauvergne dunked just 4 seconds from the opening tip and scored twice more as the hosts jumped ahead 6-2. Connor Frankamp was left open long enough to drill a three that gave Zenit the lead. A series of Zalgiris turnovers prompted an early timeout, but the hosts struggled to find their scoring touch. A mid-range jumper by Loyd made it 8-13. Lekavicius got going for Zalgiris with an alley-oop assist to Josh Nebo and a floater. Free throws by Baron gave the visitors a 16-21 edge after 10 minutes. 

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Despite losing Lauvergne to an injury early in the third quarter, back-to-back threes by Ulanovas and Strelnieks changed the momentum and a floater by Lekavicius tied the game at 42-42. Emmanuel Mudiay's mid-range jumper – his first points of the game – gave Zalgiris its first lead since the first quarter, 47-46. Loyd answered with a three and Zenit protected and extended the lead. A pretty move by Lekavicius made it 51-55 at the end of the third quarter. 

Loyd and Baron combined for the first 5 points of the fourth quarter as Zenit threatened to pull away. Andrey Zubkov's second three of the game made it 53-63. Josh Nebo did his best to ignite Zalgiris with a pair of blocks on defense and a mid-range basket. Lekavicius carved up the Zenit defense to get within 60-65 with less than 2 minutes remaining. After a defensive stand, Nebo split free throws with 49 seconds remaining and Loyd's jumper in the lane all but secured the victory.

Zenit St Petersburg won its second straight road game to start the season and improved to 5-0 all-time against Zalgiris Kaunas with a 64-70 victory at Zalgirio Arena on Thursday night. Jordan Loyd scored a game-high 19 points to lead the winners – including a key jump shot and 2 free throws in the final 30 seconds to hold off a late Zalgiris rally. Billy Baron added 11 points and Mateusz Ponitka tallied 6 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists for Zenit, which held its opponent below 70 points for the second game in a row. Janis Strelnieks led the Zalgiris attack with 14 points and Joffrey Lauvergne and Lukas Lekavicius scored 10 points apiece. Lekavicius also delivered 6 assists.

Zalgiris Kaunas v Zenit St Petersburg (2021-10-07T17:00:00.000Z)

Nate Wolters led his team to a valuable road win in what was perhaps his best game for Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade on Thursday against his former employer, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv.

Wolters shined for Zvezda in his Tel Aviv return

Facing Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in front of the home crowd at Menora Mivtachim Arena is never easy. Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade shrugged off the fans as well as being short-handed and grabbed an important road victory - thanks in large part to the former Maccabi guard Nate Wolters.

Wolters poured in 17 points including 2 three-pointers late in the third quarter to regain control of the game for Zvezda, which won 63-75. Nikola Kalinic was actually the game’s top scorer with 19 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 5 assists in the winning effort. But so much of the attention went to Wolters, who played for the Israeli champs in 2019-20.

Wolters dismissed questions after the game about him being extra motivated in facing his former team and said: “We just needed a road win early in the year. It’s always good to win on the road. We have a lot of guys out right now. It’s been a tough situation early in the year but we played really well tonight and played good defense and didn’t let them get in a rhythm all night.”

Nate Wolters shines for Zvezda in his Tel Aviv return | Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

Zvezda head coach Dejan Radonjic hinted that Wolters may have had a higher level of motivation for the contest: “Every game in the EuroLeague we have a huge motivation and I think he had a big motivation tonight to play well. I hope he will continue like this."

Radonjic actually called this game Wolters’ best for the club - also taking into account the 27 EuroLeague appearances he had for Zvezda in 2016-17.

“This was his best game for Zvezda - not just this year but also from when he was with the team before,” the coach said.

Wolters’ former teammate at Maccabi Angelo Caloiaro wasn’t surprised by the performance.

“We’ve played with Nate. We know that he’s a heck of a player. It’s fun to play against old teammates. He got going tonight. He was really good for them,” Caloiaro said.

Also really good was Zvezda’s defense. Prior to giving up just 63 points on the road against Maccabi, Radonjic’s men held Fenerbache Beko Istanbul to just 61 points in Round 1, albeit in a 61-57 road loss in Turkey.

Radonjic was happy about his team's ability to step up to win in a tough environment.

“To win here you have to be ready to play at both ends. It’s always nice to play in a great atmosphere and today it was a big challenge for us to play against Maccabi in front of fans,” the coach said.

And Zvezda showed it was up to the challenge.

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv v Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade (2021-10-07T18:05:00.000Z)

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Zvezda brings back EuroLeague champ Kalinic

Zenit wins again in Kaunas, 64-70

Wolters shined for Zvezda in his Tel Aviv return

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